A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
The USS Missouri headed to San Francisco from the East Coast in November of 1944 via the Panama Canal, stopping in various ports along the way. This allowed for visits from Navy WAVES aboard the ship.
This Navy photograph, dated December 1, 1944, is likely from one of the West Coast ports, perhaps San Francisco, where WAVE Margaret Anderson got a chance to visit the ship.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
For the filming of the final scene of “Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II,” the producers would like to take Margaret to the USS Missouri, now a floating museum in Hawaii, and film her sharing her remarkable story about painting the ship for luck. The documentary film begins with Margaret’s memories and ending with this in-person visit to the site will bring the story full circle.
The USS Missouri was in the San Francisco harbor and one of Margaret’s colleagues had tickets to tour the ship. Margaret pulled away from the tour and started chatting with some sailors painting on deck.
Watch the video below and listen to the story from Margaret herself:
Homefront Heroines is still raising funds to complete the project. Help support Homefront Heroines and send Margaret back to the USS Missouri.
Hinges of History 